Reprinted from the Press Enterprise
In the Public Interest

Riverside, California (July 6, 2009) - Tracking the flow of campaign money, and how it affects political decisions, is a crucial part of keeping government honest. Public scrutiny of contributions and votes helps deter graft and expose special-interest agendas at work. So the outcome of a just-settled lawsuit will benefit California voters, by providing a much better understanding of the connections between political donations and legislative actions.

The state legislative counsel's office, which oversees the Legislature's records, settled a lawsuit with two open government groups last month. The California First Amendment Coalition and MAP-light.org sued the state in December, after the legislative counsel refused them access to a searchable legislative database. In February, the state unveiled a new downloadable database that allows such searches (at www.leginfo.ca.gov), leading to the settlement.

The difference between databases may seem arcane, but the new records system marks a promising advance in the cause of good government. California started putting legislative records online in 1993, which let the public read bill texts and see how legislators voted.

But the system only let people view that data one bill at a time, making any analysis of voting trends difficult. The new database will allow computer-assisted searches that let the public correlate legislators' votes with campaign contributions.

Such analysis can provide insight into how special-interest money and politics intersect, which is crucial for ensuring honest government. MAPlight .org already runs a Web site ( www.MAPlight.org) that combines data on federal legislation with records of political contributions. So visitors to the site can find out which groups stood for or against specific federal bills, whom their money went to and how those legislators voted, and compare the timing of contributions and votes.

MAPlight.org plans to use the state database to add similar information on California legislation and political donations within the next few months. Those details are especially pertinent in the Golden State, where the legislative process often becomes an expensive special-interest battleground. The state's Fair Political Practices Commission reported in April that state and legislative candidates had directly raised more than $1 billion since 2001, despite campaign contribution limits. That amount equates to raising $14,354 an hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Public records that compare donations and votes might sometimes be embarrassing for politicians, but they give voters a vital insight into the performance of elected officials. Taxpayers have a vested interest in knowing whether their legislators are more attuned to campaign contributors than to constituents' interests, and a database that can expose those details helps ensure more representative government.

A new database is hardly a panacea for an irresponsible Legislature, of course. But putting the influence of political money on full public view can give voters a useful tool to improve the quality of state government.